


Life of Simplicity

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: Isshin Taicho [23]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Gen, Gin Ichimaru Has PTSD, Growing Up, Mental Breakdown, Over protectiveness, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protectiveness, Slow Burn, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-04-02
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25198264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: After the Winter War, things come tumbling down, emotionally, and in other ways. A certain former taicho, has stepped back into the picture, and there are other things that simply just don't work.
Relationships: Hirako Shinji & Ichimaru Gin, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Ichimaru Gin, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Kurosaki Ichigo, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Kurosaki Isshin, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kurosaki Karin
Series: Isshin Taicho [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849003
Kudos: 7
Collections: Bleach: Tenth Division Captain Isshin, Bleach: Toushirou's Parents Are..., Platonic Relationships





	1. Unohana

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer – I don't own Bleach. Contains spoilers for chapter 398.

After the Winter War, the fourth division ended up being rather busy with the causalities that were coming in. When battle happened, this wasn't an unusual thing. However, what was unusual, was to have the vast majority of the higher ranks, the taicho and the fukutaicho end up in the medic ward. This was to the younger generation in some ways, disheartening, even though they had in the long run, won the battle.

The taicho of the fourth, couldn't help but pity the younger generation, even though even she had felt the sting in her vast history. She had the advantage, of having lived through and regained hope after similar events. She also happened to have a higher control over her emotions then various ones of the younger generation. She had to laugh though, at the idea that she herself wasn't negatively affected.

She was in the room of the general taicho, sitting by his side, as he lay unconscious on the bed. She had needed her own break and respite from everything, as she had been going almost none stop. She had brought in a trey of tea, and an extra cup, to relax, and hopefully stimulate Yamamatto to wake sooner, rather than later. However, she couldn't promise anyone that he would awake, considering what he in truth had done to his own body.

The door to the room creaked open, and she glanced up to find one of the younger generation staring in at her. His teal eyes took in the room, his white hair falling over one eye. Truth be told, it looked like he hadn't gotten enough sleep, but it was possibly enough for him to be functional. "Unohana Taicho?"

"Did you not expect for me to be in here?" the female taicho gave him a weak smile. "I thought I ordered you to bed rest?"

"I couldn't sleep," came the simple statement from the young taicho. Hitsugaya crept closer to her, and stood by her side. "Do you think he will be mad at me when he wakes up?"

"That isn't something to think about until he does, as we don't know if he will wake up," the female smiled.

"If there is a chance for Yamamatto General-Taicho not to wake up, then wouldn't this be a good time to say I am sorry for messing up, even if the chance of him for giving me is slim?" the child asked, startling the female.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, that isn't something you should place on your shoulders. I will admit that your actions were at times, not the best, but everyone is prone to the weakness of the mind," the female smiled, suddenly pouring some tea into the other cup and handing it to him. "Here, drink this up. It should hopefully calm you down."

"Arrigotto… for the tea, and not saying that my behavior should be overlooked because of my age," the small taicho stated, taking a drink of the nice cup.

"To put it as kindly as possible, Hitsugaya Toshiro, I worry sometimes about you because of your age. It is not so much about how you react, but how much you are keeping in to yourself, and how much someone of your age normally has to deal with. If an adult such as myself has problems dealing with these things, even though I've lived a long time, how is it for you?"

"How can I answer that question, when I don't know the answer myself?" the boy stated, suddenly letting his tea swirl in his cup. "Can I ask something. I need a truthful answer to this question. Do you think I was ready for something like this?"

This caused Unohana to take a deep breath. "No, I don't think you were ready."

"Again, arrigotto," came as a half drunk cup was set down onto the trey. "I needed an honest answer about that one."

At that, Unohana heard the door click, and she shook his head. "Why does he always leave when he gets the answer that confirms what he believes to be true? Truth is, no one is ready for something like this."


	2. Momo

In another room, Hinamori Momo Fukutaicho was recovering, as it seemed that her mental state of things had come to be shattered yet again. She had a rather faraway look on her face, and seemed to be ignoring everything that was around her. At least that was the way that it seemed to the three friends that sat in her room, all of which went back to her academy days.

"Has Hitsugaya Taicho been to visit Momo?" Renji suddenly asked, as he sat leaning against the wall, his arms folded behind him. "I would have figured that he would have been one of the first ones to have come here to see her. They did grow up with each other."

"I don't know. That has bothered me, since they are supposed to be like siblings. Then again, I was out for the last part of the battle, so did the tenth division taicho do something to … well, you-know-who?" Hisagi sighed, shaking his head, the memory of his former taicho exploding, still resounding in his mind.

"Well… no," Kira suddenly glanced at the wall, as if what he had to say about the subject matter was difficult for him to say.

"Oh come on, it isn't as if Hitsugaya Taicho attacked Hinamori. Right Hisagi, he wouldn't do that," Renji stated, looking to his sempai for affirmation.

However, before he could open his mouth, the eldest among them found himself behind interrupted by Hinamori, who had been sitting up, and staring at the foot of the bed. "Yes, he did. He attacked me."

This caused the other two, to suddenly startle, then look to Kira to confirm or disconfirm what the small female shingami had come to say. However, Kira could only nod his head, then place a palm on his forehead. Renji's rietsu suddenly flared. "I am going to kill the little brat. I don't care if he was a captain."

"It was an accident!" Kira's head suddenly popped up, his face suddenly filled with panic. Hisagi raised an eyebrow, realizing that there was something more to this, while Renji simply fumed. Hinamori though, suddenly turned her face, her vacant eyes suddenly filling with anger.

"How can you take his side! He stabbed me through the chest!" Hinamori stated. "I am glad he feels too guilty, that he hasn't come! I _don't_ want to see him. Ever… again!"

At that, a small knock came at the door, and they saw it open suddenly. "Hinamori… can I…"

Everyone in the room was in actual surprise that the small taicho had suddenly decided to show up. He stood in the doorway, dressed in the clothing one wore if they were stuck in the fourth division. His words had suddenly stopped, when his two teal eyes had come to fall onto Hinamori, whose chest suddenly began to heave at seeing him. Her aura also began to spike dangerously.

The next thing that they knew, Hinamori had grabbed an empty, clay eating-vessel from the side of her bed, and had flung it at the small taicho's head. Thankfully, though, instead of hitting him, it hit the door. The pieces shattered, and scattered onto the floor. "Hinamori… I came to apologize…"

"For trying to kill me Hitsugaya!" the girl snapped, completely surprising her friends, causing them to back away a little bit.

"I didn't try to k…" the small boy started.

"If you hadn't tried, you would have come to see me sooner... in fact, already!" came the rather upset reply.

At this, Toshiro's Adam Apple bobbed down, and he began to leave. "I'm sorry… perhaps I should visit later…"

"I _don't_ want to see you!" the female stated, a few tears running down her cheek.

The door clicked shut, and Kira got up and began to pick up the pieces that had shattered onto the ground with Hisagi to help him. "Hinamori… you shouldn't have done that. He hadn't done anything wrong."

"What exactly happened after we went out," Hisagi stated, as Hinamori muttered something about the blond taking sides he shouldn't.

"When you went out and I was elsewhere, remember," Renji sighed, shaking his head.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, Kyoraku Taicho, Soifon Taicho and the leader of the Vizards all thought that they were attacking Aizen. They thought that they had gotten him, and that they had finished him off with a great tactic. Truth of the matter it looked good, too good to be true. It was really Hinamori. It was Hitsugaya Taicho, who had the last blow," Kira stated, refusing to look Hinamori in the eyes.

"I am going to have to side with Kira and Hitsugaya on this," Hisagi shook his head. "This wasn't Hitsugaya Taicho's fault."

"It doesn't change the fact that the kid is a brat," Renji iterated. "He always has been."

"The Hitsugaya stabbing me was not the Hitsugaya I knew," Hinamori iterated, clenching the bed sheets. "That Hitsugaya is scary. Shiro-chan… he isn't supposed to be scary. He's sweet, warm, and friendly."

At that, Kira sat down on the edge of Hinamori's bed. "In one token, I would say, neither are you. Yet there we saw a side of you, you probably don't want to ever show anyone again, right?"

"There is also the fact that you missed what many people already knew. The brat is nearly as scary as Ichimaru Gin, easily," Renji stated.

"No he's not!" came the sudden protest.

Hisagi suddenly held out the bowl of shards in front of her, pulling out a piece that had gotten blood on it, causing her eyes to go wide. "Hinamori… answer me this question. Did the Hitsugaya you know, did he ever hate someone, hold a grudge against them for something?"

"That isn't like Shiro-chan. He doesn't know how to hate," the girl gave him a weak smile, pulling the sheets to her chest. "That shard… I hurt him… didn't I?"

"Possibly," Kira stated shaking his head. "I don't want to imagine what would have happened, had the bowl hit his head. It wouldn't have been pretty, and you would have been in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, only Matsumoto gets away with throwing things," Renji chuckled. "What are you trying to get at though, Hisagi?"

"Well, if Hitsugaya Taicho didn't know how to hate, before Aizen betrayed everyone, then he would have learned then. Hurting family, it's a big deal isn't it?" the male stated. "We were all too busy with other worries, then to worry about him, and how he was handling stuff. He possibly didn't like feeling what he did at the time, but didn't know how else to handle it, because no one taught him."

"Bull…" Renji muttered. "I hate psychological stuff… it isn't real."

"I guess I owe someone an apology," Momo sighed, taking the one piece in her hand.

"Not just for a few things. Many, many things," Kira sighed, patting her on the shoulder. "A lot has been going on, while you were cooped up in the fourth division.


	3. Gin

Other people were roaming the halls of the fourth division. One such person came to a certain room, only to find the occupant, a busty strawberry blond, bustling about, trying to make her room more comfortable. However, there was a very big limit, on what she could do, to actually achieve this. His pale teal eyes took in her curving figure, then shook his head, knowing this wouldn't be easy. "Hello, Rangiku."

This caused her head to suddenly shoot up, her mind caught off guard from hearing his voice. Her pale blue eyes turned from soft to a hard menacing look. "What are you doing here, Ichimaru?"

"We need to talk," came his reply, without commenting that she had used his last name, as if she was trying to make it so that he was something that she formally didn't know personally. The typical look was plastered to his face, yet he never had learned to drop it, except through the act of unintentional.

"No, we don't," the woman stated, going to pull at the bed sheets. "I think they shouldn't have been as lenient on you as they have been. I wish they'd locked you away, for good. I don't want some half assed explanation as to why you always ran away, or why you sided with that monster."

At first, he simply looked at her, then walked through the doorway, and sat down in one of the chairs and placed his hands in his lap, as if he were a good little kid. "No, we need to talk."

This caused Matsumoto to turned and face him, her hands on her hips. "Ichimaru Gin, I am going to ask you to leave."

The silver haired man opened his mouth to say something, only to have the leader of the viazards stick his head into the room, then approach Matsumoto. "Ahh, you… you are my first crush."

This caused Rangiku's glare to transfer. "I've heard that line before, particularly from you. I don't need that right now."

"When did I say that? Oh well…" the man suddenly turned towards Ichimaru, avoiding the confusing topic. There was a cocky smile on his face. "The person I've been seeking is you."

"Hello taicho," Gin felt his shoulders tense and his aura bristle, as this was one of the last people he currently wished to speak with. After all, he had cut down someone the man had cared about. He also had a rough relationship with Shinji ever since he had become the third seat of the fifth division.

"Do you really have the right to call me that," Shinji suddenly snapped. "You were always helping him. It's always been, what was the best interest of Ichimaru Gin."

The younger of the two felt his characteristic smile falter, "so says the taicho who never was able to look out for his subordinates."

"Why would I ever look out for a brat, who killed to obtain his seat in my division," the Vizard stated, brining up sore memories.

This caused Gin to suddenly slide down in his seat, not wishing to think about that night. "You have no clue what happened, that night. I don't like killing."

Matsumoto, who had had moved onto recognizing the flowers in a vase, suddenly turned back towards the two. "I don't like this conversation. I also don't believe the last thing you said, Ichimaru. Please, would you both leave. Take this conversation elsewhere."

"Well, I don't believe in the idea that the former third seat that sits in front of me, hates killing. Look at what you did to Hiyori, just to get to me. Revenge, hatred, spite… it's all there," Shinji nearly spat.

"No. That's not why," Gin shook his head at the man.

"Yes. If you were to kill anyone, it would be the person you looked up to while you were in the academy, even though he never knew it…"

"Shut up," came Gin's response to his zampaktuo.

"That isn't why?" Shinji's eyes filled with rage. "What other reason would you need to cut her down, then to spite me?"

"Nah. I respect you still too much taicho," Ichimaru stated, picking words that weren't choice to pacifism. His mood was growing in the stinging pain of his memories, he typically choose to push to the back of his mind. "She simply was annoying."

"Oh god…" Rangiku chocked out her response, causing Gin to look over at her, causing him to see in her eyes, the fact that she saw him as a monster.

"Simply… annoying…" Shinji's rietsu flared. "You aren't someone who has respect for anyone, except you freaking precious Aizen! My ass! Hiyori was always annoying everyone. To cut her down, simply because she said something about that monster!"

"Makes me one too, doesn't it taicho" Gin's response was nearly his typical calm, sadistic one, except his Adam's apple moved awkwardly for a reason rather only known to him. He hadn't at all told a lie right then.

"I mean, it was really Aizen taunting her, so the only other possible annoying thing she did…" Shinji's rant suddenly stopped short as something his him. "Hiyori was only being obnoxious to that kid. Even I could over hear them arguing."

"So?" Gin shrugged his shoulders, purposefully trying to brush off what had been said.

"I realized… that kid looks a lot like you. Blue green eyes, pale hair. Both of you likely child prodigies, for him to be a captain this young," Shinji's face was still registering the shock of the conclusion that he had come to.

Suddenly, the silver haired man's eyes sprung open, and his smile falters. His voice became threatening. "Leave Shiro-chan out of this."

"It's rather interesting that you would suddenly become defensive, simply because of one small child. I wonder why? His birthday sometime in December?"

The next thing, Gin found himself with his face in his former captains, his voice dripping with anger. "I said _leave_ my son _out_ of this!"

The next thing that happened was that Gin had to dodge a bit, as a vase came hurtling at their heads. It smashed against the wall and dripped down. "Your son?"

"Ran-chan! Please… calm down!" Ichimaru found himself holding up his hands in defense.

"Calm down? You don't have the right to call my son, your son! How could you have hidden from me like this!" the female snapped.

Shinji retained his cocky smile, yet raised an eyebrow. "Matsumoto Rangiku? You've… turned into quite the young lady."

"Leave!" Matsumoto suddenly spun her glare onto him. "You are part of the problem!"

"I'll apologize to you later then," the man sighed, slogging out of the room.

"You!" the irate woman suddenly went and shoved the silver haired man hard. "How could you do something like this to me… to him?"

"I had my reasons," Gin's eyes were open, trying to look straight into hers, that bled and anger of a mother cat.

"Reasons? I doubt you did, considering you cut down someone for saying stupid things."

"I say I take pride in him, and didn't appreciate her accusing him of cheating to become a captain," the man stated firmly. "It was of his own merit, truth be told."

"Take pride in him my ass!" Rangiku slapped him hard across the face.

"Remember when I told you, I had something to talk to you about? This was it… for his sake I am telling…" Gin found himself interrupted by a slap across his other cheek.

"That isn't a reason to… that doesn't prove you care! Caring isn't a reason to try to kill someone, simply for being annoying!" Matsumoto snapped.

"I didn't try to kill her," Ichimaru took a deep breath.

"What do you call, cutting her in half!" Rangiku shook her head, at the fact that his sadism remained intact.

"I would have cut her top to bottom, if I meant to kill her," came the odd reply.

"There is still no justification for what you did. Just because…" Rangiku quickly found herself interrupted.

"Chibi-taicho…" Gin stated firmly, hoping to stop her, as he caught site of something, or someone in her doorway.

"Don't make him part of this. Unfortunately…" only to find herself interrupted her.

"No, I…" Gin suddenly paused, taking in the scratch on the left cheek of their visitor.

"Matsumoto?" A very startled female cat suddenly spun around, surprise written all over her face.

"Taicho? How long…" she muttered, a bit taken aback that he had been standing there. Gin tilted his head, watching carefully.

"I wanted to see you, and heard loud voices… what's going on?" two teal eyes glared at Gin, as if to say the man had better not harm the woman. "If he's bothering you…"

"No… taicho… this isn't… it's a private conversation really… I might explain later…" the woman stated.

Ichimaru though, had become fixated on Toshiro's left cheek. "Chibi-taicho?"

Toshiro's eyes narrowed in annoyance, as Matsumoto had a certain look of hope on her face, that Gin would side with her on this one, and that he would help her to diffuse the situation. However, this was not to be the case, as Gin walked over and cusped the small boy's chin, tilting Toshiro's face so he could get a better look at his cheek. "Who hurt you?"

The man didn't notice the sudden fear that had sprung into Matsudo's eyes at first. However, he had no choice when she forced herself between the two, and pulled Gin's hand away. "Taicho, leave, now... you aren't ready for me to explain this to you."

"But…" the small figure in the fourth division bed clothing remained tense, his eyes filling with worry.

"Taicho! Now!" Rangiku stated harshly, causing the young one to scurry away. Ichimaru made to follow him, only to find himself back. "You're not leaving."

"I have to take care of something," came his reply. The look on his face was a rather serious one, without his usual grin. However, there was a kind of dark, obsessed tone to his words.

"The only thing you need to take care of, is telling me why you dared to break my heart, to rip my baby from my life, not to tell me, when I found him, that he was actually mine."

"Ran-chan… please…" Ichimaru's voice strained, seeming to be desperate. In addition, there was something else there.

"No . The way I see it, all your doing, is doing something to feed your ego, so that you have some time to do, so you aren't bored. It isn't because you care about him. I'm not going to let you go on a whim here, and ruin his life."

This caused Gin to pause, and look straight at her quite livid. "Ran… I really do care about him."

"Well, it's not possible for me to believe you," Rangiku stated, glancing away, a sad look in her face. "Seriously, it is just a scratch."

"Someone's trying to kill him!" Gin snapped, a memory flash briefly occurring in his mind, causing him to twitch.

"No one is trying to kill him! How messed up are you! Are you going to tell me now, that you cut down Hiyori because of her words were a threat when they weren't!" Rangiku shoved him backwards. There was fear in her voice, yet she still found herself facing him.

"Ran…" Gin suddenly felt his hand start to twitch, to reach for his zampaktuo. He then felt her latch onto him, in an attempt to prevent him from pulling it out. However, when his hand pulled it, she was surprised to find it dropping to the floor, then his foot kicking it to the far side of the room, sheath and all.

The next thing she knew, he pulled away from her harshly, and collapsed into the chair, clutching his head suddenly, his eyes wide, but not so that he could see her. He sensed her going to pick up his zampaktuo, only to find him snapping out again. "Don't… don't… don't…"


	4. Isane

Healing wasn't the only task that the fourth division members were in charge of taking care of, while they took care of those who happened to still be healing from the Winter War. They were still in charge of the cleaning that went on, and cooking for their own division, along with those who ended up having what one might call involuntary stay.

The main person in charge of taking care of the meals was not always the same person, but that was the same, from division to division, at least one hoped that it was this way. Today was Isane's turn to be in charge of the days meals, and she had everyone bustling around in the kitchen area, to get the food ready for the afternoon meal.

The kitchen, was of course, ripe for gossip. One of the males shook his head. "I can't believe that they let Ichimaru Gin retain his powers."

"I find that man to be scary," one of the smaller females, who was also one of the newer members spoke up.

"Ever since he was a child, I heard that he's been a monster and a killer," a woman said, who was stirring the stew that would be served.

"Now, now. They have their reasons. They may be waiting for Yamamoto Taicho to wake up," Isane stated, trying to make it so that bad rumors wouldn't start flying, making people distrust the higher ups in the Gotei Thirteen.

"Perhaps… did you hear about Hitsugaya Taicho?" the female at the stew continued stirring.

"And what about him, is so important to gossip about? Come on… it isn't like he is the taicho of the eight, eleventh of twelfth division," the tall female shook her head at this. "Don't say anything."

"I want to hear what they have to say," came a voice, which caused her to turn, and find the person that they were speaking of standing in the doorway, his body only half way visible.

'Hitsugaya Taicho!" Isane became a bit concerned that he happened upon himself being the subject of gossip.

"Can I help?" The way that he said it, was rather plain, straightforward answer. Isane though, happened to take in what he was wearing, the standard infirmary clothing that the fourth division gave out.

"Shouldn't you still be resting?" the female stated, watching him suddenly tilt his head at her.

"I can't sleep, and I need to do something. Can I please help?" the young taicho asked again.

Just as that happened, a couple of males came through, pushing something heavy. One of them, not thinking anything about it, picked up the small taicho, and placed him on top of some barrels, out of the way. This caused the youth to suddenly scowl. The woman who was stirring the stew though, smiled at him. "Rumor had it, you got hurt bad. It is good to see you up and about, though I agree that you should be resting, rather than helping us."

The new female, who was rather nervous, also suddenly spoke up again, not catching the looks of dismay on some of the other division members faces. "What about that rumor that the ex-taicho of the tenth actually being alive?"

Isane watched as the small boy's head suddenly perked up. "You mean to say, Isshin-san Taicho is alive, and no one bothered to tell me?"

"Yes… well…" Isane was about to say something else, however, the small taicho had taken off quickly. "Unohana's not going to like that…"


	5. Ichigo

When things had calmed down a bit, Ichigo and his father had found a room. The place was in truth, peaceful and quiet, where they figured that no one would bother them. They needed to talk about certain things. Even so, there was a collective silence between the two.

"So," the substitute shingami suddenly let out a deep breath.

"I am not quite sure where to start," the man sighed, glancing at the ceiling, in a usual Isshin fashion, the more serious kind.

"I'll start by asking, how long did you know I was running around fighting hollows?" came the first question out of his son's mouth.

"I knew…" Isshin paused, then placed a hand on his chin, and pulled his gaze back to the boy. "I remember clearly that night Ichigo, except for a few things. First off, I saw your little burglar friend."

"Burglar… you mean you _lied_ about seeing Rukia when the two of us first met!" Ichigo wasn't so much angry, as shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I _lied_ about seeing spirits just a few minutes before," the man shook his head, surprised that the boy had actually missed the obvious. "Then there was the fact, two people seeing a shingami, when people _aren't_ supposed to would have been _very_ suspicious. Are you sure you're my son?"

"Dad!" the teenager's face twisted in annoyance. "This is as bad as you suffocating me, because it wasn't the appropriate time. Or the fact that you ruined the moment, by correcting me. Sheesh. How do you remember when she used a memory modifier?"

"Same way others around you did, except I had my own spiritual pressure locked up," the man stated. "I went along with the truck thing, because Yuzu said that is what happened, and Karin backed her up.

"This also means that you knew Rukia's sob story wasn't true. That also means…" Ichigo shook his head in disbelief.

"… that I knew you had a teenaged girl staying in your closet," the man suddenly grumbled.

"Rukia isn't a teenager. She's over a hundred years old," Ichigo muttered, shaking his head.

"People age differently in Soul Society. She's still a teenager," the man shook his head at this.

"I get your point dad," Ichigo stated, as suddenly the door that had been closed, suddenly opened part of the way. Ichigo turned his head, to see two teal eyes peering in.

"I..." came the first syllable to both males name. The face belonging to the two eyes suddenly faltered. "Kurosaki, did you mean to say, he's your father?"

Ichigo watched as Hitsugaya Toshiro opened the door a little further, his eyes a little bit wide, glancing back and forth between the two. The teenaged shingami scratched his head. "I guess this is where I got my soul reaper powers from."

"I guess… that isn't so surprising," the small boy stated, yet his voice was still strained.

"Did you need something Toshiro?" came the junior Kurosaki's response.

"Ahh… no, I didn't _need_ anything," the boy stated, his tone sounding a bit hurt about something, yet Ichigo couldn't figure out what was going on. The door then began to close. "I am sorry for interrupting."

"Damn it, Toshiro, it's obvious that you do need to talk to something," Ichigo grumbled, then turned to his father. "I am sure you wouldn't have minded if we held off on our conversation."

"The question is, Ichigo, would you have minded," Isshin stated, suddenly folding his arms across his chest and glancing at the ground.

"If Toshiro needed to talk to me, then I wouldn't have minded," the substitute shingami stated.

"What if you aren't the one he needs to talk to?" the man tried to dig something out of his son.

"I would have been upset, because he couldn't come and talk to me about it. He trusts me, doesn't he?" came the boy's quick response.

"Maybe it's because he trusts you, and respects you, that he backed off in the first place. It might also be something, he can't talk to you about, or it is something he has to talk to someone very specific, or it defeats the whole purpose," the man sighed, shaking his head.

"Toshiro needed to talk to you, didn't he," Ichigo sighed, suddenly getting what his father was getting at, then completely messed up again. "Why would someone as smart as Toshiro, need advice from someone who is as much of a baka as you are?"

This caused Isshin's eyebrows to rise. "Ichigo… obviously Toshiro once knew me, at some point. Maybe what he needed, wasn't advice, but that he was looking for something else. He used to be my lieutenant, before I left Soul Society."

"Toshiro… hey, you didn't practice your stupid parenting skills on him, did you?" came the boy's logical response.

"Yeah, I did. Let's just say, the three of you combined, were never near as a handful as he could be at times," the man gave a weak smile. "From the looks on his face, he had come looking for me, and hadn't realized you were also my son. Which means he hadn't realized that things had changed since I left. Of course, he had probably been elated, I was alive and not dead, so it didn't occur to him, there might be this kind of connection."

"So Toshiro's part of the family. Big woopy deal. I'm glad of it, because then he can't argue about me calling him by his first name… though that takes away some of the fun," Ichigo stated, only to be thumped on the head. He glared at his father. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being stupid," the man narrowed his eyes. "Obviously, he doesn't think he's part of the family. He feels replaced and left out. I need to talk to him, without you interfering. This is one of those times, its best you do what I tell you in the clinic, to stay out of the way, so you don't make it worse."

"So, your sure I can't be of help," Ichigo grumbled.

"If I can think of something, I will let you know. But don't go doing something stupid, which will make it worse. Because with Toshiro, when you make it worse, it isn't a minor worse, it is a big one," Isshin stated, slipping out of the room.

"Great…" Ichigo flopped onto the fourth division bed, frustrated at his life.


	6. Toshiro

Truth be told, staring at the ceiling of the forth division, left a lot to be desired. It was something that kept the mind numb, not in the way that allowed you to forget what you wanted to forget, but that it happened to make you keep bringing up what you wanted to forget, or better yet, not think about. The small taicho of the tenth, couldn't help but stare at the ceiling, many things bothering him, about what was going on.

His restlessness, and inability to sleep, caused him to finally sit up, get out of bed, and wander around, trying to visit people. He figured, no one would be in Yamamoto Taicho's room, and he had heard that the man was still unconscious. He hadn't performed well during the Winter War battle, and had the feeling that he would receive a huge lecture from the old man, when he did wake up, which could be more intimidating then anything the fourth division captain could do.

" _I might as well apologize, while I have the confidence to do so_."His dragon remained silent, as he slowly opened the door, his mind still doing flips. He paused though, when he saw that someone was there, and his tone had a bit of surprise to it. "Unohana Taicho?"

The woman suddenly glanced up, giving him a typical Unohana smile, which was in itself, frightening. "Did you not expect me to be in here? I thought I ordered you to bed rest?"

"I couldn't sleep," came the boy's reply. He swallowed hard, knowing that she tended to get irritated whenever someone disobeyed orders meant for their health, thought he tended to ignore them anyways. However, for some reason, it actually bothered him this time.

" _I know… you're making it so I can't sleep either…_ " the dragon hummed in annoyance.

Toshiro walked over to her, and stood beside her, a tad nervous, saying what was in truth worrying him. "Do you think he will be mad at me, when he wakes up?"

He watched as Unohana flinched, almost as if she were trying to avoid answering the question, or as if she was trying to keep the truth from him. "That isn't something to think about until he does, as we don't know if he will wake up."

Toshiro felt his chest suddenly clench, and he couldn't help but glance at the ground. "If there is a chance for Yamamoto General-Taicho not to wake up, then wouldn't this be a good time to say I'm sorry for messing up, even if the chance for him for giving me is slim?"

The female taicho gave him a rather said look, and mentioned something about that not being something he should be placed on his small shoulders. She handed him the extra cup of tea. He thanked her for the cup, which he hoped would relax him, and for the fact that she hadn't brought up his age. That possibly wasn't the best thing to do, he realized, when she began to talk further. There was a sad look in her eyes.

"To put it as kindly as possible, Hitsugaya Toshiro, I worry about you because of your age. It is not so much about how you react, but how much you are keeping in to yourself, and how much someone of your age normally has to deal with. If an adult such as myself has problems dealing with these things, even though I've lived a long time, how is it for you?"

Toshiro swirled his tea, and felt his face twist up. "How can I answer that question, when I don't know the answer myself? Can I ask something? I need a truthful answer to this question. Do you think I was ready for something like this?

He heard her take a deep breath, knowing then; it was yet another answer that she was trying to avoid giving. "No… I don't think you were ready."

"Again, arrigotto. I needed an honest answer," Toshiro set his cup down, and left the room. " _I've been thinking… should I ever have been made captain._ "

" _I don't think, child that is what she was referring too at all, your abilities. You should take her words about not keeping things in to heart,_ " his dragon suddenly purred, trying to comfort him.

" _That's… hard to do. Plus, Shingami are supposed to be emotionless,_ " the boy, sighed, the idea to visit Momo popped into his head. " _I've got to apologize for what happened. I really messed up_."

He walked carefully over to the room he could feel her warm spiritual pressure coming from, a little bit of jealousness coming to his stomach. She had always had the ability to make friends easy, and her rieatsu, unlike his, had always been warm and welcoming. He swallowed hard, then knocked on the door, and opened in slowly. "Hinamori… can I…"

He stopped short, as four pairs of eyes suddenly stared at him, one of which, the one female in the room was looking at him lividly. His eyes went wide, as suddenly he found a bowl hurtling at his head, smashing at the door. He felt one of the pieces gaze his cheek. He swallowed hard. "Hinamori… I came to apologize…"

"For trying to kill me Hitsugaya!" Her words made him jump, but he didn't realize that it had made her friends also startle.

His eyes closed, having trouble getting what he wanted out. "I didn't try to k…"

However, she interrupted him rather quickly. "If you hadn't tried, you would have come to see me sooner… in fact, already!"

" _Perhaps it is because I am a coward?_ " Toshiro swallowed hard. "I'm sorry… perhaps I should visit later…"

"I _DON'T_ want to see you!" the female stated. The small boy couldn't help but notice the tears running down her cheeks. He closed the door behind him, and shook his head. He could feel his eyes dampening.

" _I am seriously, not going to cry_ ," he thought to himself, as his dragon tried to sooth him with sounds. He bit his lip, and then decided to go see Matsumoto. His fukutaicho always knew what to do. On his way to her room, he passed Shinji, who seemed distracted by something. To his concern, he heard yelling coming from the room, and tensed realizing one of the voices belonged to Ichimaru.

He hurried towards the doorway, and into the view of Gin, who raised his eyebrow at the small boy. Rangiku had her back turned towards him, and had yet to notice him. "There is still no justification for what you did. Just because…"

"Chibi-taicho…" The small taicho found himself bristling at the nickname, but said nothing at first.

"Don't make him part of this. Unfortunately…"

Unfortunately, Gin tried to interrupt her again. "No, I…"

"Matsumoto?" Toshiro decided to make it clear that he was actually there. To his surprise, she spun on him, her eyes completely wide, and giving him a weak smile.

"Taicho? How long…" Toshiro's eyes drifted over to the ex captain of the third division, who had tilted his head.

Something was bothering him about this behavior. His young mind focused on the idea, that Gin had been bothering Rangiku, which wasn't a surprise to him really. "I wanted to see you, and heard loud voices… what's going on? If he's bothering you…"

"No… taicho… this isn't… it's a private conversation really… I might explain later…" the woman stated, her words stinging, as he knew something was wrong.

Ichimaru's eyes were still focused on Toshiro, and this caused the small taicho to shiver involuntarily. Whatever as wrong was not usual, even for what might be considered normal Gin behavior. The man suddenly walked over, and his hand settled on the boy's chin, which caused Hitsugaya to flinch. He felt his face being tilted, so that the man could see the cheek that had come to be scratched. "Who hurt you.

The question was strange, to say the least, for he couldn't figure out why Ichimaru would ever be concerned about such a thing. However, the next thing he knew, Matsumoto had shoved between the two of them, forcing Gin to let go of his chin. "Taicho, leave, now… you aren't ready for me to explain this to you."

"But…" peeking around, his eyes fell onto the other man's, which seemed to be a pale coloring of his own. He wondered if Matsumoto would be safe with the man, but he couldn't be sure.

"Taicho! Now!" the woman repeated, and he numbly turned and walked away.

After he had gotten away from the room, the numbness and shock wore off a little. " _I am too young, to cowardly… should never been made a captain… completely, completely useless_."

" _Now stop this. You do this way to many times. This is a dark depression you are going into_ ," his dragon warned.

A thought though, perked into his head, about how he could do something, and he headed toward the kitchen, hiding his cheek behind the doorframe, so as Isane wouldn't freak about it too. He happened to arrive, right in time, to hear someone speak up. "Perhaps… did you hear about Hitsugaya Taicho?"

"And what about him, is so important to gossip about?" Isane then started on about how it was a bad thing, to be saying anything.

As kind as it was for her to do this, he had his curiosity perked. "I want to hear what they have to say."

"Hitsugaya Taicho!" Isane spun around, completely surprised, not to mention, her eyes were taking him in.

"Can I help?" This was his plan, to do something, to make himself feel like he was in some way useful, even in the slightest. She made a similar comment, as Unohana would have, however, he continued to ask, no… in a way beg. "I can't sleep, and I need to do something. Can I please help?"

Suddenly, he felt himself grabbed under the armpits, by one of the males from the forth division, and lifted up. At first, he thought he was going to be forced to go back to his room, however, instead, he found himself placed indignantly on top of barrels, out of the way, like a small child, which caused him to go deeper into his depression.

"Rumor had it, you got hurt bad. It is good to see you up and about, though I agree that you should be resting, rather than helping us," one of the women stated, her opinion firm.

" _I just want to help. Am I that much of a burden on people?_ " he thought to himself, only to catch onto something, someone said.

"What about that rumor that the ex-taicho of the tenth actually being alive?"

This caused him to perk up, physically and emotionally. "You mean to say, Isshin-san Taicho is alive… and no one bothered to tell me?"

"Yes…" However, at that, he had hopped down, and was heading away, feeling for the old baka of a taicho's rieatsu, however, Isshin had always been good at keeping it hidden. He glanced up at doors, looking to see who was placed in the room. However, when he came to one room, he heard a muffled, but familiar voice. A small, yet slight smile spread on his face, as he opened the door.

"I get your point dad," came another familiar voice, as Toshiro's two teal eyes took in the scene.

"I…" He had been planning to say something to his former taicho, however, his smile quickly dropped. He chocked out some more words. "Kurosaki… did you mean to say… _he's_ your father?"

He opened the door further, and watched at Ichigo looked at him, his face filled with concern. He flat out said, "I guess this is where I got my soul reaper powers from."

"I guess… that isn't so surprising," Toshiro glanced at the ground. " _I of all people… I should have known… I knew Taicho had a chance of being alive… I'm such an idiot._ "

"Did you need something Toshiro?" Ichigo asked.

"Ahh… no, I didn't _need_ anything. I am sorry for interrupting." The small boy took a quick bow, then hurried off. " _It isn't something I needed, it was something I wanted, and I should know by now, I don't get those kinds of things. I should have known, things had changed. I am a huge idiot…_ "

" _Knock it off…_ " his dragon sighed.

Suddenly, Toshiro darted into the nearest room, and closed the door, taking deep breaths, and placing his hands on the door, leaning up against it. To his surprise, someone spoke up. "Don't you know how to hide your rieatsu?"


	7. Shinji

The fact that his efforts had accomplished very little in the Winter War was frustrating. He had not in truth, been able to rectify, or more of, get revenge upon Aizen for the atrocities against the vizard. This in truth stressed the former gotei taicho. Not to mention there was the fact that most of the vizard crew, needed to rest up from the ordeal. Particularly Hiyori, who had been cut in half by the person named Ichimaru Gin.

Shinji's mind was focused greatly on giving his former third seat a tongue-lashing. Truth be told, he might not be allowed to give the man a taste of his own physical medicine, but the man looked forward to lavishing out some good old verbal abuse. Asking around, he was able to find where Ichimaru Gin had gone off too. This was the same as when he was young, always disappearing on everyone, including Aizen. When he popped into the room, the first person he saw though was a busty female.

And as to his nature, he did the usual flirtatious hit on her, much to the annoyance of Ichimaru Gin, who Shinji could see sitting in the corner. A very miffed person, the female, took aim and responded that she had heard that line from him before, even though Shinji didn't remember ever meeting her.

"Hello Taicho," the look that Gin didn't give him, as the silver haired man maintained his smile and closed eyes, was instead interpreted easily by the influx of negativity in his spiritual pressure. Gin, obviously, was not at all happy to see the blond man.

Shinji though, didn't like the young upstart, using his title. It was, in truth, insulting to him, due to his disconnection, particularly with anything dealing with Aizen. "Do you really have the right to call me that? You were always helping him. It's always been what was the best interest of Ichimaru Gin. _And no one else, I might add._ "

Not hearing the unsaid thoughts, what was blurted out, was enough to cause the smile to slip from Gin's face. Shinji knew then, he had started to make the younger man angry. The response was quick and sharp. "So says the taicho who never was able to look out for his subordinate.

The accusation that Ichimar put forth stung, and Shinji felt himself taking a deep breath, as it was supposed to be him causing the grief for once. He knew that his former third seat was leaning on the idea for some reason, possibly to try to make him feel guilty, for abandoning the silver haired man as a child, though Shinji really felt that he hadn't. He couldn't help but remember the day the third seat prior to a certain child genius suddenly disappeared.

"Why, would I _ever_ look out for a brat, who killed to obtain his seat in my division," the vizards tongue shot out, knowing this wasn't the likely way to get the truth from the other male, but then, truth wasn't what he was seeking.

He watched as Gin slunk down, like a child caught in the cookie jar. His tone also reflected this. "You have no clue what happened that night. I don't like killing."

The female gave a rebuttal, along the lines of disbelief in the comment, something that Shinji couldn't blame her for. The man could feel his muscles tightening at what had been said. He was shocked that he had said this, and his words leaned towards Hiyori suddenly. His former thirds seat simply shook his head, giving an answer he hadn't expected. "No. That's not why."

This caused the blond haired man's voice to strain with anger, but then, he should have expected such an answer from this person. "That isn't why? What other reason would you need?"

"Nah, I respect you still too much taicho. She simply was annoying." This of course, quickly upset the other in the room, not to mention, served to set Shinji off.

"Simply… annoying? You aren't someone who has respect for anyone, except your own freakin precious Aizen! My Ass! Hiyori is always annoying everyone. To cut her down simply because she said something about that monster!"

"Makes me one too, doesn't it taicho? Gin's response was too calm, which meant he was likely hiding something. Shinji felt this, as this was something he had picked up from when the other male was a boy.

The leader of the vizards took a deep breath. "I mean, the only other annoying things she did… Hiyori's comments were rather mild, and not annoying. Except when she talked to the kid. Even I could hear them arguing."

"So?" Gin tried brushing the whole matter under the rug.

So was a good question. Shinji couldn't help but thing about the why, when he suddenly remembered Gin's little fiasco of knocking up his own child hood friend, sort of girlfriend. True, they were kids, and no one had explained certain things to them, about certain things. However, the one who ended up explaining them, _had_ been Shinji, much to his own disgruntlement and Urahara's.

The whole thing had ended up with the girl having to hold off a year at the academy, only to have the baby supposedly die. Supposedly, because Shinji wasn't quite sure anymore, as that child taicho had the coloring of Ichimaru Gin. Not to mention, if he was a captain at this young age, he had to be a child prodigy also. Adding the rough physical age into the calculation, it was all possible.

Thus, in Shinji's own ire, he began to use his theory, and the information that went with it, to attack Gin, to confront him, and hopefully open up a huge wound. He got the silver haired man riled up, to the point he blurted out something that confirmed everything, not to mention hadn't exactly been expected, as Shinji thought his theory a long stretch. "Leave my son out of this!"

The next thing Shinji knew, he found out that the young woman, who threw the vase at their heads, was in fact little Matsumoto Rangiku, grown as much as Gin had, since he had last seen his former third seat. He should have known, neither one of them were children anymore, or really now, what one would call young teens. He had to personally mentally kick himself for not putting it together sooner.

Leaving, he made a promise in his mind, to apologize to the female later on. Also,on leaving, he crossed paths with the small taicho, who was obviously heading to the room, which caused him to inwardly curse his luck. It didn't really register, until the boy was actually completely out of site. He had defiantly caused a mess of things.

Slipping into Hiyori's room, he sat down, rather slack in the chair. He took a deep breath. "Well, aren't things rather crazy."

She of course didn't answer, as she as in a deep sleep. He sat there, in the silence, staring at the ceiling. About some time later, he felt an icy rieatsu coming out and heard the door to Hiyori's room open and close. He leaned his head back, so he could glance at the person who entered. It was the small taicho, the one that also happened to be Ichimaru's son.

The boy was leaning up against the door, his entire body shaking. His rieatsu also gave away that he was rather upset about something. Shinji raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Don't you know how to hide your rieatsu?"

He suddenly saw the boy turned to him, two bright teal eyes, filled with agitation, not to mention, a likely sense of insecurity. There were a couple of times, that the boy opened his mouth, then shut it. Finally, he found the courage to speak up. "I would like to argue, there is no reason to hide my rieatsu now, and that is the reason, but truth of the matter is, I stink at it, and it can be very draining."

Shinji shook his head at this. "What brings you to this room? Obviously you are in an agitated state, so did Gin and Ran tell you about that, Shiro?"

"My name isn't _Shiro_. It's Hitsugaya Toshiro. Ichimaru likes to tease me with _Shiro_ - _chan_ , which he knows I hate, and with _chibi-taicho_ , his own little pet name. And no… Matsumoto _refused_ to tell me what was going on. They were arguing about something though, and then Gin got weird," the boy stated, his frustration suddenly pouring out.

"Gin was always that way. I think the word creepy is better for him," the man stated. He watched as the boy suddenly turned towards him, and he inwardly winced. To him, Toshiro was a mirror image of Gin, except even younger. The way he looked, the way he spoke. This child, he hadn't been wrong in guessing that he was Ichimaru's son.

"I hate him," the boy stated, suddenly surprising Shinji. "He was probably trying to chummy up to Matsumoto, and beg for her forgiveness. She was in truth, his only friend, as far as I can tell. Then again…"

Shinji watched as Toshiro's eyes fell to the floor. A scratch was on the boy's left cheek. He got up, and then sat so he was sitting backwards in the chair."You are a mirror image of him, bizarrely enough."

He then suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop, as the boy suddenly looked up at him, horror written on his face. "I know that I don't have any friends anymore either, as Hinamori just told me to never see her again, and that I was going to say I was basically one to talk, however, I _am_ not him!"

"Cool your temperature. Hiyori's resting," the man stated, letting out a sigh.

Hitsugaya suddenly gave him a look of confusion. "Don't you mean, cool my temper? And don't most people get better faster, when they aren't over heated?"

This odd statement caused Shinji to suddenly blink a couple of times. He then scowled at the child. "That was rather morbid."

"I get better when the rooms cool…" Toshiro then made a quick bow. "I am sorry for intruding, I had better go."

"No… wait. I take back what I said. It wasn't a morbid statement. More of, it was an odd one," Shinji beckoned him over. "I have nothing to do, so I might as well make conversation with you."

The boy inched closer, wary of the man. "Do you think that when Yamamoto gets better, he'll exonerate you. That way, you could fill the positions you had before you left Soul Society?"

"Why are you asking this, when you aren't sure that you can trust me?" Shinji gave a half laugh at this.

"I'm not wary of you, because you are… have that hollow side like Ichigo. I am wary of you because you are a stranger. Actually, I am wary about everyone, when I first meet them. Matsumoto complains about it all the time," the boy stated, again, sliding a little closer.

"What, little Ran-chan?" The blond haired man raised an eyebrow, and turned his head towards the bed, as he thought Hiyori had moved. However, she seemed to be in the same person.

"You know about Matsumoto when she was younger?" Hitsugaya's steps were suddenly surer as they came closer, not to mention faster. His eyes had a high level of curiosity in them, and he ended up close to the chair. This wasn't the way Gin had handled curiosity when he was a child, but was more familiar to the way young Rangiku had, which perked Shinji's interest, to figure out what traits the boy had inherited from each parent.

Suddenly, Shinji reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, a smile on his face, while two eyes became annoyed and brushed the hand away. "The way it works for us vizard, you be our friend, then we'll be yours. Does that sound good to you?"

"If it is me trying to help get you guys back in, you have my support, but I can't make any guarantees. Hell… I might very well be losing my rank, for the stunt I pulled. My question though…" Toshiro's eyes were rather pleading for the information, though Shinji couldn't figure out why.

"I meant friends, like how we are friends with Ichigo," the man stated, suddenly going to clean wax out of his ears. "What is your obsession with little Ran-chan? It isn't because you have a crush on her?"

"Little?" Two teal eyes gave a look of surprise. "No. Rangiku is pretty, but she is way older than me. Truth be told, Rangiku is the person who convinced me to go to the academy, even though she was a complete stranger. She's been looking out for me ever since, not to mention, if I hadn't gone to the academy when I did…"

"Something bad would have happened," Shinji let out a sigh of relief. He had in a way, wanted to laugh inwardly, if the small boy actually did have a crush on his own mother. His curiosity though was perked. "We're friends, so it stays with me."

"I would have likely have killed my granny, with my rieatsu," the boy stated, his tone dry, and not to mention bitter. "I have the bad luck, of hurting people around me. So… maybe being friends isn't a good idea, because then I'll bring you and the other vizards bad luck."

Shinji was about to counter this statement, when the door to the room opened again.


	8. Matsumoto

A mother, in truth, should never fear for the safety of their child. This is especially true, when it comes to the idea, of fearing the child's safety, due to the other parent. At first, it had started off, as something simple, with no idea that there was a child out there, that she needed to protect. Truth of the matter was, she had given up on that dream, when Gin had told her, the baby had been born dead.

She had some hankering though, when she had in fact met the small boy, who was now her taicho, that he had in fact belonged with her. She had that urge, to smother him, with motherly affection. Because she thought it was because of her broken heart, from when she had thought her child had died. She pushed it down, because in truth, making Hitsugaya Toshiro a replacement, wasn't fair. Then… Gin said those words.

"I said leave _my_ son out of this!" came his response, which caused Matsumoto's head to shoot up, her eyes suddenly go wide. There was only one child that Shinji and Gin would both know about, and that was the child that she had happened to lose. She felt the pain rise in her chest, realization hitting her, about all the lies Gin had told her, and that they hadn't been a few minor ones. There was more then she expected.

"Your son?" Was what she said, after she threw the vase at the two males' heads. She had wished, for a few seconds, that it had actually hit Gin in the head. But truth of the matter was, they both had dodged. She had spent, over a hundred years, believing that she had lost a baby girl, when in truth her baby boy had been alive. She had also spent over thirty years, wanting to hold and love that child, with all she was worth.

This of course, led to an argument brewing between the two of them. She lost track of everything around her, else she wouldn't have needed Gin to let her know that Toshiro had snuck behind her, that he had almost heard her blurt out something that would have hurt him more then anything else she could have possibly said to him, simply because the news would come to him in the wrong way. But it really took her own son, calling her name, to jar her.

"Taicho? How long…" Her head turned towards the small boy, taking in everything. He had a scratch on his cheek, and he looked tiered, not to mention, now that she was paying attention to his rieatsu, he was possibly in one of his depressed states, where he was feeling down on himself. She wanted to tell him, right then and there, but thought it not the best time.

Even after she had indicated that it was a private conversation, she couldn't help, but see the worry in her eyes. She had always wondered, what he had thought of her. A mother figure, a mentor, an annoyance. She was now personally hoping he didn't ever, at one time have a crush on her, because that in truth would have been embarrassing.

She saw Gin step up suddenly, only to have her hopes of him intervening to agree with her, her former friend suddenly began to examine the cheek of the small boy. When Gin had asked, who had hurt their child, she felt her chest pound. She had heard enough, and been around Gin enough, to know just how dangerous he really was. She also, didn't know if he would hurt Toshiro, as he had attacked the boy once before, before he defected with Aizen.

Thus, she shoved between the two of them, and ordered her small taicho, something she rarely ever did, unless it was for his own good, to leave. She also blocked Ichimaru from leaving, and following the small child. He started to beg her, and yet she didn't relent, thinking this was something about his ego, his pride, not to mention, the fact that he could at times be quite sadistic. That was until he told her, he thought someone was trying to kill Toshiro.

She now stood against the wall, trying to think of exactly what it was, that had set Gin off. His zampaktuo, was off in the far opposite corner, while he hunkered down in the chair, rocking slightly back and forth, muttering something under his breath. She had remembered, she had mentioned that it was just a scratch, before he started going on about someone trying to kill Hitsugaya.

Every so often, he would raise his head, and glance towards the door, or the window, his eyes completely open. She saw in those eyes, that he wasn't completely there, and she couldn't help but wonder, if her deduction that she had never known him was wrong, that in truth, the Gin that she had once known, had gone somewhere else.

"Ne… Gin…" she finally spoke up.

"Ehh… Ran-chan?" his tone was rather childlike, pitiful… creepy in its own way.

This caused her to swallow, and she placed a hand on her own zampaktuo. "Why do you think someone is trying to kill Shiro-chan?"

"Because… it's just like that night. I told Shinji taicho, he didn't…" however, she suddenly saw Gin's head dart down, and for him to clam up.

She shook her head, wondering if it was simply the scratch that happened to have set him off, or if there was something that Gin's first taicho had said. However, before she could say anything, Ichimaru shot of a shot at the wall, a rather mild and weak spell.

"Matsumoto?" This caused Rangiku to turn to find Isane standing there.

"Please… go get his former taicho," Rangiku suddenly blurted out, thinking that one man, might be able to help. Gin was likely only to get worse otherwise.


	9. Isshin

To track a person, you need a way of finding them. Hitsugaya Toshiro's rieatsu was the kind that tended to stand out, no matter where he went. Isshin had always said things about his subordinates keeping their spiritual pressure under check, however, he knew very well that the child prodigy was still working on mastering it. While he happened to be able to control it for periods of time, it was exhausting, and thus wasn't something he could constantly do.

Of course, Isshin knew that he had this one factor to be thankful for, that he could follow after the small pint sized child, to try and figure out what the hell was bothering him. He had figured that it had something to do with the fact that he felt replaced, simply because Isshin had his own family now, by blood. He carefully opened the door, to find the leader of the viazards, having a chat with the boy.

"Toshiro…" the man watched as the boy startled, then swallowed, glancing at the floor. The boy obviously wanted to avoid him.

"Hello… taicho," the boy stated, not exactly sure how to address the man.

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "So… you are the kiddo's former taicho? Would you mind telling him, he isn't bad luck?"

"Taicho is the last person to ask that of, because he is one of the people my luck's affected," the small boy stated, fidgeting where he was.

"Now, Shiro-chan…" Isshin suddenly felt the temperature change in the room. "Ahh… Toshiro, you know that isn't true."

"Then tell me! Why is it that you just disappeared, and didn't come back, just like everyone else in my life!" the boy suddenly spluttered out.

"Shush," Shinji leaned on one hand. "Hiyori's sleeping. Though, if she were to wake up in a fit, I would like to see that. It would be great fun."

Isshin personally wasn't sure, if the man was being sarcastic, or serious, but simply for the time being, brushed it off. "Toshiro, come here."

"You aren't my taicho anymore, so you can't boss me around," the boy stated firmly, his stubbornness beginning to show through.

"So like Ran-chan, stubborn wise, isn't he?" the blond haired man suddenly piped up, only to have Isshin give him a dirty look.

"Toshiro, I am not going to put up with you acting like a child. Tell me what is on your mind. I won't judge you negatively about the whole matter, I promise," the former taicho of the third division thought he would try this method.

The child bit his lip, then stated out firmly. "What I want, is not a matter to be discussed, as it is not a need, and thus doesn't need to be fulfilled."

"That doesn't mean that I don't want to hear what you have to say," Kurosaki senior stated, only to have the boy freeze and say nothing. "I thought, before I left, that we had come a long way. The same applies then, as it does now."

"To be allowed to call you oto-san," Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes.

"Ahh… so you two had a close bond," Shinji began to scratch his head. "I think I've seen your taicho somewhere before."

"He's Kurosaki Ichigo's father," Toshiro grumbled.

This caused the viazards to perk up. "So… you feel like you are replaced? Wouldn't Ichigo make a great older brother, figuratively speaking?"

"Toshiro… you're still part of my family, even though you aren't blood related," Isshin glared at the other man. "In the Rukongai, it never mattered if people were blood related or not."

Both of the older males, watched as Toshiro made a kind of pouting look, and after a few seconds, his cheeks flushed. "It's complicated taicho. You want me to call you oto-san, but not in the way I would like to now call you oto-san, not that I would ever truly admit that is the way I want to call you oto-san."

Shinji's jaw suddenly dropped. "What the crap."

"It's called Toshiro logic. Care to explain Toshiro?" the former taicho of the tenth could only shake his head.

At that, Toshiro suddenly glanced at the ground. "I take back what I said, because it was simply said because of something Matsumoto has said to me, and I really don't think that."

"She didn't happen to tell you what she and Gin were talking about?" Shinji shook his head, almost as if he happened to know something that affected the whole matter, and what was going on.

"No…. Matsumoto said I was too young to understand, basically," the boy narrowed his eyes.

"What… do you know something that I need to be aware of?" Isshin suddenly found Shinji standing up, and tugging him out by the sleep.

"Oi… no fare," Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the man.

"As a friend, watch Hiyori for me and let me know if she wakes up," the blond haired viazards stated, closing the door on the small boy, as his mouth was agape.

"What exactly is it that you needed to tell me?" Isshin stated firmly.

"How much do you know about the man named Ichimaru Gin?" the man stated firmly.

"So much, that he was my former third seats best friend growing up. He saved her life, ever so long ago," Isshin shook his head. "I also know he's not dead. I don't think he ever was really on Aizen's side."

"He's a psychopath. Be careful asking Hitsugaya Toshiro calling you oto-san, in front of that man," the blond haired man's eyes narrowed. "He's dangerous."

"I know he is. Toshiro has called me oto-san in front of Gin before," Isshin stated. "Why is it such a big deal?"

"What you told me, doesn't make sense. I don't see Ichimaru not being possessive of that child," Shinji stated, tapping his foot, and glaring at the ground. "He was my third seat, before Aizen turned all of us."

"How well did you know him then?" Isshin stated.

"Apparently I missed a lot. Hitsugaya Toshiro is Ichimaru Gin's biological child. I knew about his birth back when I was a part of the gotei thirteen. However, Gin made everyone, including the child's mother, believe the baby died," the man stated firmly. "Knowing Gin, he would be possessive of the things he considers his."

"So… I take it Rangiku is also Toshiro's mother," the other man, found it his turn to glare at something, choosing the aim his sight on the ceiling.

"Yes… she is," Shinji stated.

"Don't you think that you are something else, theoretically, that Gin is possessive of?" the senior Kurosaki suddenly spoke up, rather catching Shinji off guard. However, they found themselves interrupted, as a bit of yelling, could be heard coming from the room.

This caused the vizard to roll his eyes. "She likes picking on him… why, I have yet to figure out."


	10. Hiyori

The last thing she remembered was feeling Ichimaru's blade cut through her. She knew exactly who had cut her in half. She then found herself falling down a rabbit hole. Whether to say it was figurative or actually literal she had a problem trying to figure out as she found herself dressed in a bright, pale blue pinafore dress much like Alice, from the story of the girl who did in fact fall down a rabbit hole.

She blinked her brown eyes as she fell, suddenly seeing a creature hopping from book to book that was also falling. She figured it to be a rabbit of some kind... which unfortunately had the human face of Ichimaru Gin, which caused her to flinch at the bizarreness of what she say. This of course made her realize she wasn't facing any sort of true reality.

Of course, she also quickly realized that the Ichimaru faced creature wasn't a rabbit, but a fox. Then again, it may have been a rabbit, but morphed into a fox as she watched, simply because dreams could be tricky like that. She took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh. When she would begin to wake up, she had no idea.

She landed on the ground and stood up looking all around her, finding herself in a nursery filled with toys. The dream definitely wasn't that story, _Alice in Wonderland._ She walked over the the doll house and opened up the door and saw a small doll look up at her, to bright teal eyes taking her in. She recognized said child as the taicho she had argued with.

"I know you." A smirk spread across her face. "Now look whose shorter. Not such a bad dream now, I think."

"Actually, I am still technically taller." The doll spoke up, causing her eyebrow to twitch.

"What do you mean you are technically taller."

"If I was scaled up in comparison to the scale of this dollhouse to your play room, I would be taller then you, and if you were scaled down in comparison, you would be shorter." The boy blinked a couple of times.

"You were _supposed_ to get mad at me! Good grief, why is it you didn't get upset until I talked about your height? Ichimaru Gin reacted more then you did. Why the hell is that! Huh? Can you tell me?" Hiyori spat out her words.

"You'll have to ask the silver fox." The boy simply turned to drink his tea.

At that, Hiyori reached down and picked up the cup and chugged it down. "I'm guessing this will make me smaller so we can talk face to face easier?"

At that, she felt herself shrinking and she grabbed onto the ridge of the doll house with her hand as she quickly shrunk. However, she found herself suddenly staring at what seemed like a ledge that came to her waist. She heard the small taicho coming down the stairs. "Why is it that you just disappeared, and didn't come back?"

"What kind of question is that!" Hiyori blurted out. She then though realized what she wasn't looking at was a ledge, but the edge of the doll house, which equated to being equivalent to a foot tall. Which meant she was about a foot tall. She saw the boy step up to her, his feet covered with rabbit slippers and then reach down to scoop her up by the waist. "Put me down!"

"You can't boss me around... you're much smaller then me." The boy sighed.

"So like Ran-chan, stubborn wise, isn't he?" came a voice from above the fireplace, causing Hiyori to glance up and see Shinji talking to her from inside a painting.

"Shut up Shinji!" Hiyori called out, not at all happy at how her dream was going.

"He's Kurosaki Ichigo's father," the doll boy stated, causing Hiyori to blink a couple of times.

"You think Shinji is Ichigo's father? How dumb can you get?" She then found herself being set down on the mantle of the fireplace.

"You're calling me dumb, when you drank the tea. I told you when you got scaled down, I would be taller then you." Toshiro sighed.

"Are you trying to tell me if you drank something that did the opposite, you would end up being a giant! You have got to be kidding me, this is one messed up dream." She then felt herself spinning, and then found herself looking up at the ceiling of the forth division. "Where am I?"

"Forth division, duh," came the childish voice from in front of her. This caused her to sit up straight, her bedding falling from her body.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hiyori snapped out.

" _That_ person asked me to watch to see if you woke up and tell him since he had to step out of the room?" Toshiro sighed.

" _That_ person? What do you mean by _that_ person?" The small female blurted out.

"He _never_ told me what his name was, truth be told. Our conversation got interrupted." The small taicho blinked a couple of times, then glanced away. "Are you feeling better?"

It was at this point that the door opened and two others stepped into the room. Hiyori though payed them no attention at all. "Why are _you_ asking if I am feeling better? I don't _like_ you! You freak me out because you look way to much like _him_."

"What do you mean I look to much time like him." The small taicho blinked a couple of times.

"It's almost as if you're his freak clone or something." Hiyori folded her arms across her chest. "And I don't want to look at you after _he_ cut me down like he did."

"You mean Ichimaru Gin?" Toshiro blinked his eyes a couple of times.

"Yes, I mean _that_ freak." Hiyori stated. "I can tell you... I knew him when he was your age. You're just like him."

"I am not like him!" Toshiro snapped out loud. He was about to open his mouth, when the door opened.

Isane stuck her head into the room. "Something is going on with Ichimaru Gin. Matsumoto Rangiku said that I should get Shinji-san."

At that, the blond haired man took a deep breath and then moved out of the room. Isshin turned towards Toshiro. "I am sorry, Shiro-chan. Our conversation will have to wait." The man disappeared, leaving the small taicho staring at the door, looking rather miserable.

"So, I am stuck with the Ichimaru Gin look alike." Hiyori muttered. "You're just as creepy as him too."

"Since you want me to get lost, I'll just leave." The small taicho stated, standing up and heading out the door.


	11. Isane

" _You mean to say, Isshin-san Taicho is alive, and no one bothered to tell me?_ " Isane couldn't help but think back on the look of the small taicho's face as he said those words. She would have thought there would have been some sort of bitter resentment in there about certain persons keeping secrets from the small taicho, but that wasn't the case.

Instead, she saw a smile plastered on the child taicho's face, the like of which she had only seen a few times in the many years she had known him. The child was odd in the fact that when it came to his emotions, he was very similar to Ichimaru Gin in the fact that they both rarely wore their emotions on their sleeves. The difference was that one always smiled, while the other always frowned.

Problem lay in the small detail that possibly had kept Unohana from telling Hitsugaya Taicho that his former captain was in fact still alive. There was the fact that Ichigo Kurosaki happened to be the biological son of Isshin, something that would likely place discontent in the small taicho's heart about whether or not he should belong.

Had not the small child taicho come looking for something to do, some way of helping the others, but ended up being turned down simply because he was supposed to be resting. Many members in the forth division never voiced their concerns aloud, they never felt comfortable with having someone so young in such a position. Then again, they dealt with death too much. It was one sorrow after another piled on.

Isane thus set out in search of the small taicho, hoping she could fix the situation. However, her concentration was broken by an exploding sound coming from Ichimaru Gin's room, which caused her to hurry over, despite the fact she found the man to be overly creepy. She stepped into the room, her eyes catching site of a rather large hole in the wall, surrounded by scorch marks.

Her head then turned quickly to see Ichimaru Gin, his head bent down, his entire body shaking, his mouth panting for some odd reason. Something told her that he wasn't well and she could tell from Rangiku's expression that she also knew this. "Matsumoto?"

At that, the other female looked up at Isane, her eyes filled with worry and fear. "Please... go get his former taicho," the female blurted out.

This caused Isane's eyes to blink a couple of times before she spun on her heals to get the Vizard leader, despite the fact that she didn't know much about said man. As she approached the room that the blond, female Vizard was in, she heard loud voices and saw both Isshin and Shinji step back into the room. Upon getting there, she heard one of the forth division's patients rather distraught.

"I can tell you... I knew him when he was your age. You're just like him." Hiyori spat out as soon as Isane opened the door to her room.

As she stuck her head in, she heard Hitsugaya Toshiro speak up, rather surprising her. "I am not like him!"

The fukutaicho of the forth saw the look on the small taicho's face and knew that the young taicho wasn't happy about whatever conversation the two of them had been having. At that, she managed to mutter out her words, instead of taking a deep breath like she should have. "Something is going on with Ichimaru Gin. Matsumoto Rangiku said that I should get Shinji-san."

At that, the blond followed her from the room and Isane could hear Isshin mutter an apology to the small taicho. They walked at a steady pace back to the room. The former taicho of the tenth division spoke up at this point. "Can you tell us exactly what is going on with Ichimaru?"

"All I know is that he shot kido off at the wall and that he is having a mental break down. I don't know why Rangiku asked for his former taicho, but I do know... I know something wasn't right." Isane found her voice strained. "Anyways, what was it that Hiyori and Hitsugaya Taicho were arguing about."

At that, Shinji let out a sigh. "You might as well say they were arguing about whether or not that small taicho is more like Ichimaru Gin or Matsumoto Rangiku, except Ran-chan never ended up being mentioned."

"But isn't Hitsugaya Taicho a lot like Ichimaru Gin?" The tall female had worry plastered all over her face. "He has nothing in common with Matsumoto-san."

"Ehh... well, I had a conversation with that child and I think that he has a lot in common with her. I guess though, they would associate him with Ichimaru because they look a lot alike." The man glanced away at this.

Isane placed a finger to her lips. "Hitsugaya Taicho looking like Ichimaru... I hadn't really thought about it that far. I mean, it isn't possible that they could be related." She didn't catch the looks that passed between the two former taicho. However, she did notice when she entered the room, one Ichimaru Gin.

The man was sitting, his body still shaking, his head in his hands, muttering something under his breath while Rangiku was kneeling in front with her hands over Ichimaru's. Shinji stepped forward, his eyes suddenly turning to a certain area, which caused the tall female to notice that the silver haired man's zampaktuo was away from him. She slipped over to the zampaktuo and picked it up, slipping it into a drawer.

Turning back around, she saw Shinji step over to listen to whatever Ichimaru happened to be saying at that point in time. For some reason, the man let out a deep sigh. "Thank you for making it overly clear that I messed up when I was your taicho." He then turned to Rangiku, who had stood up when Shinji had moved over. "He honestly thinks someone is after that kids life?"

"He does think that Taicho is..." However, Rangiku's eyes looked at her former taicho a scowl appearing on her face for a short period of time. "Hitsugaya Taicho is in danger, as far as he is concerned. I am not sure how to tell him otherwise. If he reacts like this, to such a small scratch on taicho's face. Why is he being so over protective?"

At this, Isane's mind went numb, because the word protective didn't seem to go with the silver haired man and confusion spread across her face. Shinji though spoke up. "Sheesh. I saw the small taicho. It was like seeing a mirror image of Ichimaru the night that the third seat disappeared. I think Aizen had something to do with that."

"That night! He mentioned that he told you something, but you didn't listen." Rangiku let out a deep breath.

"Actually, Ichimaru told me nothing, other then the fact that the man was scum so it honestly didn't matter that he disappeared." The blond haired man scratched his head. "I decided to keep a closer eye on him after that."

"With Ichimaru Gin, that tends to mean something, as he isn't one to go around calling people names. Well, nick names, but not insults." Isshin stated firmly. "Actually, from my professional medical opinion here, he may be experiencing a major backlash from suppressing his emotion for this long."

"You mean for over a hundred years?" Isane blinked a couple of times. "And what is this about Ichimaru being protective of Hitsugaya Taicho? I mean, I can understand Rangiku slightly, but anyone else..."

At this, Rangiku at first tensed up, glaring at Gin as he simply stood there. "Can we talk in an empty room near here? Can I trust Gin to the two of you?"

"To the best of our ability." Shinji stated. "I'm not the medical expert, this guy is."

At that, the two females stepped into another room. The tall female hugged herself nervously. "Matsumoto-san, what is going on here?"

"Come on Isane, we are near similar age," the overly busty female laughed, only it was in truth fake. "How to put this?" The female paused. "Have you ever noticed how taicho looks a lot like Gin?"

"No, actually... I haven't. Not until the leader of the Vizard brought it up a few minutes ago. But now that I do think about it, Hitsugaya Taicho does have a lot in common with that man, including his looks." The female leaned up against the door, glancing away. "I guess I didn't like thinking about it because its kind of creepy."

"There is... well, a reason why they have a lot in common." Rangiku also couldn't look the other female in the face.

"You don't mean to say they're like, brothers?" Isane muttered.

"Brothers?" Matsumoto's head suddenly darted up. "No, they aren't brothers. Hitsugaya Toshiro is Gin and my son."

The tall female stared at Rangiku in silence, blinking a couple of times, and then her eyes went wide upon realization. "Matsumoto-san! That's! How could you not know?"

"Good question. Gin took Toshiro and hid him from me, yet I do think I knew I had a bond with him when I met that child." A deep breath came from the orange haired females nose. "Normally I would be screaming my head off, embarrassing Taicho by letting everyone around us know our family secret before I told him. But... Gin's behavior..."

"You're afraid that Ichimaru Gin may hurt your son? Didn't you say he was trying to protect him earlier?"

At that, the other female took a deep breath. "Gin's protecting our son borders on the insane. While Aizen was around, there was something that I guess he needed to be protected from, but now... he's lashing out at a delusion. Maybe it has to do with the fact that he can't deal with the truth that he never was really protecting Toshiro, not with the way Taicho got cut up."

"Matsumoto-san... isn't there something else you should be worrying about." Isane watched as Rangiku glanced up, confusion on her face. "If Hitsugaya Taicho is as much like his father as he is, perchance if he also bottles up everything, he might mentally break like Ichimaru has?"


	12. Toshiro

When Toshiro closed the door, his upset about finding out that Ichigo was in fact his former taicho's son, he didn't think to look and see if the room was at all occupied. Thus, when someone did in fact speak up behind him, he found himself startling. "Don't you know how to hide your reiatsu?"

At that, he stopped leaning against the door and turned his head to see the leader of the Vizard staring at him, looking right into Hisugaya's wide, teal eyes. In the bed next to the man was the short, blond female who had berated and chastised him before. At first, he wasn't sure what to say, and then he spoke up, fully showing how insecure he was at the moment.

"I would like to argue, there is no reason to hide my rieatsu now, and that is the reason, but truth of the matter is, I stink at it, and it can be very draining." The man then spoke up to him, indicating that he in fact had an idea of what Rangiku and Gin were speaking about. He wasn't happy either, that the man used the nickname he disliked so much.

But when he thought about it slightly, he couldn't help but feel that the only reason that the man would bring up the issue of the two arguing, was if it involved him somehow. Yet, Matsumoto had made it clear she hadn't wanted him involved. Toshiro couldn't help but feel frustrated, not to mention confused at the way the adults around him were, to him, giving him the cold shoulder.

"Gin was always that way. I think the word creepy is better for him." Shinji piped up. Toshiro felt slightly awkward as the man stared right at him. He thought back to whether or not he also felt that Ichimaru was creepy. His mind wasn't sure if he did in fact find the man creepy, the words simply didn't fit his feelings.

And thus he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, though he honestly wasn't sure where that one came from. "I hate him." At that, the conversation continued, Toshiro's eyes falling to the ground, not liking the fact that the man seemed to take a liking of staring at him. However, the reason became clear after a bit.

"You are a mirror image of him, bizarrely enough." At that, Hitsugaya felt his eyes go wide and felt his chest suddenly seizing up, something that rarely happened since he had joined the academy, if ever. It was a dark feeling he didn't like. He blurted out then the fact that he wasn't Ichimaru, looking at Shinji despite the fact the pain was evident on his face. The man simply retorted, scratching his head as he did so, "Cool your temperature. Hiyori's resting."

Toshiro blinked a couple of times, his mind still troubled by the mentioning of the idea that he was like Ichimaru. Thus, his words came out before he could really think them through. "Don't you mean, cool my temper? And don't most people get better faster, when they aren't over heated?" Then came the further conversation.

First about how odd the comment was. Then it moved onto whether Toshiro could trust them. Finally, Shinji mentioned Rangiku, and his mind brightened up. Something made him want to know what his fukutaicho was like when she was young, possibly the odd sense of looking up to the woman he had ever since she basically saved him. "You know about Matsumoto when she was younger?"

Without realizing it, the caution he had about approaching a stranger vanished and he walked over to the man. To his dismay, the man ruffled his hair, much like his former taicho liked to do. Toshiro simply pushed it away as their conversation continued. In fact, it took a rather interesting turn of events.

Shinji brought up the idea of Toshiro having a crush on Rangiku of all people. Toshiro then rattled off the details between him and Matsumoto, something he normally didn't do. Then again, the word had used the word _friend_ with him, which for some reason made him feel all right in sharing. However, all his friends ended up getting hurt, which caused him worry.

As he was telling Shinji the fact that he was bad luck, when someone came through the door. Glancing up, he recognized his former taicho and then glanced away. Shinji then spoke up, a slight lilt to his voice, as if he had found mirth in what Toshiro had told him. "So... you are the kiddo's former taicho? Would you mind telling him, he isn't bad luck?"

At that, Toshiro thought about how his former taicho had disappeared, just like a good deal of the other people in his life. He remembered blaming himself, ever so long ago, and thus his next words came, again without thinking about them. "Taicho is the last person to ask that of, because he is one of the people my luck's affected."

This caused the two to almost get into an argument about the subject, of which Shinji pointed out that Hiyori was still resting. Hitsugaya remained stubborn about his belief in the matter, and then... the man made a strange comment. "So like Ran-chan, stubborn wise, isn't he?" Hadn't the man said something about him being like Gin? The two things contradicted each other in the young shinigami's mind.

This thought got left in the dust as Isshin tried to reason with him, to no avail. To the young man's surprise, Isshin extended the familiar bond, but the small taicho's mind went to thinking about Karin for some odd reason and then his words became odd. "It's complicated taicho. You want me to call you oto-san, but not in the way I would like to now call you oto-san, not that I would ever truly admit that is the way I want to call you oto-san."

"What the crap." Shinji spoke up in time for Toshiro to glance at the man.

" _What exactly did I mean by that?_ " The small taicho blinked a couple of times. " _Not the way I want to call him oto-san..._ "

"It's called Toshiro logic." Isshin shook his head at him, a smile playing on his face.

" _Young one, you just admitted that you like Kurosaki Karin._ " The dragon's laughter rang through his head.

" _Did not!_ " However, the words he said definitely came across that way, and thus he decided to correct himself. "I take back what I said, because it was simply said because of something Matsumoto has said to me, and I really don't think that."

"She didn't happen to tell you what she and Gin were talking about?" Shinji stated rather suddenly.

"No... Matsumoto said I was too young to understand, basically." Toshiro narrowed his eyes at this. " _Didn't he ask me this before?_ "

"What... do you know something I need to be aware of?" Isshin piped up, which caused Toshiro to mentally fret. Something... something was going on between Rangiku and Gin and no one was telling him what was going on. Shinji simply told him to watch Hiyori of all people.

Toshiro stayed there, waiting patiently in the chair that Shinji had vacated. He in truth hoped that the female was all right, and thus when she opened her eyes he asked, "Are you feeling better?" Which led to a whole pitched out argument between the two about Ichimaru Gin. As the two were about to argue if Toshiro was like the man, Isane came into the room.

She explained that something was wrong with the very man that they were talking about and Hitsugaya felt another tightening of the chest at that point. He became even more bothered by the fact that the two males decided to leave him behind, reminding him of how useless he felt. After the had left, Hiyori piped up. "So, I am stuck with the Ichimaru Gin look alike. You're just as creepy as him too."

Another pang went through Toshiro's chest. His mind fell to the fact that he didn't want at all to be like that man who hurt Rangiku. Then again, with as bad of luck as he was to the people he cared about, he might as well say he was like Ichimaru. Getting up, his mind wandered to the villagers and how they thought of him. "Since you want me to get lost, I'll just leave."

At that, his small feet beet a pattern on t he wooden floor of the forth division. He didn't head back to his room, but instead headed to one of the exists. Possibly due to the commotion of having so many people to treat and the incident with Ichimaru Gin, he found it overly easy to slip out and head back to his own division.

When he got to his room, he slipped into the main part of his shinigami uniform and then sat down on the bed. Glancing around, the place really wasn't his own, as he had never changed it since his taicho had gone away. This caused his depression to suddenly deepen and for him to close his eyes and lie back. " _I am completely useless._ "

" _I wouldn't say you're useless. You just have nothing to do at this point._ "

The small taicho then spoke up, his words biting. "Unohana doesn't think I was ready. Momo hates me. Gin and Ran... I thought I could be part of their lives, but I'm not to be. Kotetsu Fukutaicho wouldn't let me help. Taicho has a new family. The Vizard leader I would be bad luck for. And then Hiyori..." At that, the small taicho paused.

" _You are thinking too much about this._ " The dragon's sigh reverberated in Toshiro's mind.

He however, choose to ignore the dragon and walked over to the mirror at one side of the room and looked at himself. The first thing he did was reach up and use healing kido on the scratch on his face. As he did so, he couldn't help but shudder at the fact that the blond female had been right... he did in fact look a lot like Ichimaru Gin.

Letting out a deep sigh, he turned and left the room, walking no where in particular. Glancing up, he wished that it was night time already, so he could look at the stars. However, since it was not, he let out a deep sigh. He then came to the gate to the living world and paused for a moment. One of the men spoke up. "Are you going to the living world Hitsugaya Taicho?"

"Yes..." The boy blinked a couple of times, his mind not completely there. For some reason, the two men didn't bother to ask why he wasn't wearing his haori at that point in time, but they let him head through. His footsteps fell on the floor and he headed to the exit, his mood rather dark. He came out at Urahara's show, surprising the man.

"Hitsugaya Taicho? You'll be wanting your gigai?" The man snapped his fan shut.

"It's still not night time, is it?" Toshiro stated, while the man watched.

"If you want to see the stars, head over to the planetarium." The man suddenly began to sketch out a map and then handed it to Toshiro. "Your gigai is in the back. You know I'll have to tell people that you are here, if they ask?"

"I know. Why aren't you stopping me?" The small boy titled his head at the man.

"Because it is at this point none of my business."


	13. Kira

As soon as the other three broached the subject of Hitsugaya Taicho, Izuru knew that the conversation would become deep and heavy with Momo. Logic went to speak, that since Hinamori had been acting a certain way over Aizen, that she would have had some sort of feelings remaining after the event. However, the fukutaicho of the third division knew the truth all to well.

He had been there when Aizen had tricked Hitsugaya Toshiro into stabbing someone that the small taicho considered to be family. The whole fact that this had occurred was kept shut from those who didn't already know, to protect both Toshiro and Momo's privacy in the matter and hopefully make it easier for the two to reconciliate with each other.

When Renji said the words, "o _h come on, it isn't as if Hitsugaya Taicho attacked Hinamori,_ " Izuru felt himself flinching, a memory of the ice blade piercing Momo's chest. He also remembered how the small taicho had reacted, how he had lost the adult composure he normally had about him and became a complete child.

Momo's reaction, he couldn't say he hadn't expected her to react the way he did, but it still stung. He found himself wishing that he could have been of more help, other then healing the others at that point in time, but what could he have done against Aizen's ability? Truth of the matter was, nothing. He was left staring as two people he cared about were hurt mentally and physically.

Well, there would have been a point where he wouldn't have thought that he cared about the small taicho. To him, unlike Momo, Toshiro was just a person, a snot nosed brat as Renji liked to put it. But he knew that Hinamori thought of the child prodigy as a younger sibling and knew he was important to her.

He couldn't explain their bond as anything but a familiar one, for the two of them in truth didn't seem to get along. Actually, he couldn't help but notice that the two of them were growing apart over the years, but he never thought that the bond between the two of them would break. The event with Aizen shook up that belief.

For some reason, he found himself trying to repair said relationship. This was despite the fact he had always honestly been jealous of the small taicho being so close to Momo and getting a good deal of her attention. But something felt wrong about the two not speaking with each other. " _It has to do with the fact that you've come to see him as an obnoxious younger brother, despite him out ranking you._ "

However, Momo went ballistic. "How can you take his side! He stabbed me through the chest! I am so glad he feels too guilty, that he hasn't come! I don't want to see him. Ever... again!"

Why Toshiro came to apologize for something that wasn't his fault, Kira didn't know, but the results definitely weren't pleasant. The whole aura of the room was tense and everyone could feel their frustration boiling. It ended with him suddenly moving to sit by her, placing a hand on her shoulder and saying something she likely didn't want to hear, and the other two choosing to leave.

The whole place remained silent as she simply sat in the bed, staring at her two feet sticking up out of the covers. Finally though, she spoke up again. "Shiro-chan... what all do I owe him an apology for, other then throwing that at him?"

"I would say that accusing him of trying to kill you is one of those things." Izuru sighed, glancing at the floor. "You also ended up trusting Aizen far more then you ever trusted someone you considered to be your family. I mean, I saw you try to kill him, Momo." He paused for a few minutes, and spoke up again. "You also owe him an apology for treating him as a child."

"He is a child though!" Hinamori protested, her body suddenly twisting so she was close to Kira's own body.

"Physically, mentally, emotionally, Hitsugaya Toshiro is in fact a child. However, he has the intellectual capability to stand with a good deal of the older shinigami. He never did trust Aizen Momo. I think the only reason he sided with Gin being the one to blame at the beginning and not Aizen was that we thought he was dead and... he decided to put his dislike for the man aside for your sake."

At that, Momo's hand grabbed the back of Kira's uniform. "You are telling me, Toshiro never liked Aizen Taicho? All the way back during our academy days? How is that even possible? I mean... I talked about Aizen back then, but..." At that, she paused and her head hung low. "All I ever did talk about when I came home was Aizen Taicho. He noticed and it bothered him. He tried telling me in his own way, but I never listened."

"There is something else that you owe him an apology for then." Izuru stated, his entire body tensing up.

"He's not interested in girls yet, is he?" Hinamori asked, her head suddenly hitting the middle of his back.

At this, Kira found himself pausing. "Why is him being interested in girls or not a problem?"

"Because... I don't know. It feels like I missed something important with him." A few wet tears from her brown eyes drenched the back of his kimono.

"To be honest, Hinamori, you've been so focused on Aizen, that you haven't noticed other things." Izuru sighed, thinking back to the fact that he had feelings for the female and his comfort level was quickly dropping into the uncomfortable range.

"Aizen... I still find it hard to believe that he was the person behind all of this and not Ichimaru Gin." Momo sighed. "I always thought Ichimaru was the more likely person," She then paused for a few minutes. "What did you think about Renji's comment?"

"He made quite a few comments that were not exactly called for, so you need to be specific about which comment he made." Kira remained still, letting the tears gather on his back.

"Is... is Toshiro really as scary as that man is?" The small females voice wavered.

"Am I really the best person to ask this question of?" The blond male sighed, suddenly glancing at the ceiling.

"But didn't you happen to be afraid of him when you were in his division?" Momo suddenly glanced up, just in time for him to glance over his shoulder at her.

"What I feel around that man is hard to explain. I never felt comfortable around him, but I now think it wasn't because I feared him, it was because he choose not to be someone you could be comfortable around." Izuru glanced at the ground. "I think I was following out of blind loyalty as much as you were."

"You said feel, not felt." Momo paused. "Ichimaru... he's still alive?"

Kira saw the sudden fear that sprung up in the females eyes."Yes... he's somewhere in the forth division."

At that, Momo glanced down. "I never liked him."

"Well, even when we were in the academy, he was quit scary." At that, Kira closed his eyes and let out a soft chuckle. "I guess I did have some fear of him."

"You don't... fear him now." Hinamori leaned her head against his back, tilted to the side so she was looking at the bed again.

"I pity him. He... you didn't hear that he was pretending to be a traitor in order to stop Aizen?" The male paused, only to feel her suddenly pull away.

"That can't be!" Momo closed her eyes. "He's... I've always hated him."

"Are you sure you aren't just being jealous of the fact that he was Aizen's fukutaicho before you and Aizen favored him. I know what that man said after he cut you down, about how you were just a tool and how he only ever had one fukutaicho."

At that, the small female opened and closed her mouth. She then paused. "I think... I didn't like him before I entered the academy."

"Momo... you never met him before we entered the academy, let alone saw him." Izuru blinked a couple of times.

However, Hinamori swallowed a few times. "No... I think I saw him a few times before I entered the academy, around where we used to live. He had always been... frightening."

"You've possibly only been giving yourself nightmares of late. Or even while you were in that coma of yours."

"Possibly..." Momo simply leaned into him, letting the silence engulf them.

Izuru thought for a few minutes, then decided to tell her. However, as he opened his mouth, the door opened. "Have you seen my taicho."

"Matsumoto-san!" Hinamori squeaked out.

"It is good to see you up and about." Matsumoto gave them a weak smile. "I haven't seen him since he left Gin's room while we were arguing." The female had a far away look on her face, but then glanced at the pot shards on the table. "Momo-chan... are you the reason that taicho had that scratch on his face?"

At that, Kira let out a deep sigh. "She lost it and threw it at him. Hitsugaya Taicho will show up."

"With the way Gin is acting..." The busty female paused. "Hinamori... avoid Gin. Also, avoid telling him that you were the one who threw that bowl at taicho. He's... he has completely lost his mental state."

At that, Momo turned to Kira. "See, he is scary."

Rangiku let out a deep sigh. "Right now he is, but normally he is... he is more like a lamb. We think he bottled so much up for so long, he's simply lost it. Taicho and... lets just say people are trying to calm him down and I really need to find taicho right about now.

"But what does this have to do with Hitsugaya Taicho?" Kira shook his head.

"Plenty that I am not ready to go into." However, Matsumoto took a deep breath. "Taicho... he's also been bottling up things, and... I am worried, due to the way that Gin reacted, I am worried about how taicho will react. It makes sense though..."

"Renji was right then about Shiro-chan being scary like Ichimaru?" Momo pressed up against Izuru's back.

"Well... taicho isn't scary. Gin isn't scary either, when you get to honestly know him. However..." Rangiku paused. "I just need to find him. I'll leave you two love birds alone."

"Rangiku-san!" Hinamori snapped the words out. "Why say something silly like that?"

"I do wonder..." Kira sighed as the door clicked shut, his cheeks flushing a little, making him glad tat Momo was behind him. "Hinamori... Unohana won't let you get up to look for Hitsugaya Taicho. Would you like for me to go look for him?"

At that, there was a pause of silence. "I'm supposed to be... not treating him like he is a little child, am I not?"

"Well, normally I wouldn't go looking for him unless there was business, but something tells me that finding him is important and doing so wouldn't be treating him like a child. Plus, we can pass it off as Rangiku being worried about him, like she always is."

"Why does she get away with treating him like a child."

Izuru paused himself. "I think it has to do with the fact she knows when she is pushing the line and when it is fine, something you don't know." He then got up and headed to the door. "I am going to go look for him, so don't worry about the situation."


	14. Unohana

Stress was the only thing that could describe what was going through Unohana's mind, despite the fact that her face showed an absolute calm about it. She continued to sit with the head captain, wishing he could wake up. While she could deal with a lot of the problems at hand, the truth was, she knew that it would be a lot easier to have him also dealing with them.

She paused for a few minutes, then decided to talk about the small taicho with the man. "I think if you were awake, you would be worried about the fact that he is taking to much guilt on his shoulders on the matter. Actually, you likely would set him straight with stern words about how there is no reason for him to feel guilty. Me... right now my usual methods aren't working for that child."

At that, Retsu glanced at the ceiling. "Actually, a good deal of my methods aren't working, everyone is so strained at this point in time. We also have a problem with Ichimaru Gin. He's alive and well, and it turns out that he was trying to play double agent on us, but... I can see that his mental state is starting to break. Things didn't go the way he had been planning for many a year."

She then placed her chin back down and quietly took a sip of her tea. "He's hiding something important from us. I understand that he did all of this to protect Ran-chan, but something tells me there is something more to this, one small piece that we are missing. This may be why he is breaking mentally too, he is keeping this thing from us."

"Oh, and then there is Hinamori." Unohana's eyes glazed over with sadness. "She wants nothing to do with Hitsugaya Taicho. I asked her if I should bring him to see her, or if she wished to share a room with him, but she turned me down. She said he would have come sooner if he hadn't... she isn't going to help the matter with him feeling guilty."

She then let out a chuckle. "I just found out that Isshin of all people is alive. That is why Ichigo has the powers that he does. The only reason Isshin stepped in, was because he has three children to protect. Well, four if you count Hitsugaya Taicho into that mix. I made it clear that the child taicho shouldn't come to hear the information until Isshin could sit down and speak with him."

"It seems as if almost all the problems except the one with Ichimaru Gin involve the small taicho somehow." Retsu paused for a second, the tea cup part way to her lips. "Except... what if that isn't true. I've been trying to think of what important thing Ichimaru Gin has been hiding from us. Could it have been right under my nose."

At that point, her eyes closed and she thought about the whole situation. There was no true evidence that Hitsugaya Toshiro had anything to do with the former taicho of the third division, but there were signs that there might be some connection between the two. She began to muse over the similarities between the two. "Those to are too similar for my liking."

A knock suddenly came at the door. Isane stuck her head in. "Unohana Taicho?"

"What is it Isane?" The female taicho smiled at her fukutaicho.

"We had an incident with Ichimaru Gin. I went and got his former taicho... that Viazard person, because Matsumoto thought he could talk some sense into him and I also figured someone would get the word to you by now..." The small female paused.

"No. Nobody has told me about anything since I came into this room for my break." Unohana ushered the female to the door. "Best not to cause Yamamoto Taicho to fret while his body is resting."

"He completely lost it. Rangiku says that he is trying to be over protective of Hitsugaya Taicho." Isane glanced around anxiously.

"I was thinking that too many of our problems seemed to revolve around the child taicho's small world. I was thinking about the fact that there seemed to be no connection with Ichimaru, unlike the others, but now it is clear that there is one." The female sighed. "You are looking for Hitsugaya Taicho?"

"Yes. He seemed depressed and with the way Gin is acting, Matsumoto-san is worried that Toshiro may have a similar reaction." The tall female simply walked along with the female taicho. "He... I found out that the tenth division taicho is their child."

"I didn't know that myself, but I am honestly not surprised." The female stated firmly. "Without telling anyone exactly what is going on, would you have our other members search for him in our division? I doubt though, he is here anymore."

"But... how can you be sure that Hitsugaya Taicho's left the premises?"

"Because. I've always noticed how much like Ichimaru Gin and Matsumoto Rangiku he is. He'll act in similar fashion to one of the two." Unohana then smiled. "Since he doesn't drink sake, running away from what frustrates him seems the more logical option."


	15. Karin

Toshiro was different.

Toshiro was _completely_ different than the other boys her age.

Of course, she got the fact Toshiro was this awesome Shinigami like Rukia, and she also knew they aged differently. Perhaps the fact he came from a different era when young men were expected to act in a different, non-perverted manner helped. However, Toshiro was different than any kid her age, for all the other preteens in her class were stuck in this odd phase between childhood and teenage years where they weren't quite ready to let go of their childish things, yet wanted the world around them to see them as mature.

Toshiro already let go of childish things but was also quite mature for his age.

Of course, he needed a bit of a lesson in understanding he could act a little more his age.

As such, when she felt his icy cold rietsu, she knew right away and started planning a rather fun day for her friend, knowing full well he needed to relax.

She wasn't expecting to see him in _that_ much need of relaxing. When she found Toshiro, he stood with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders tense. While he could be stiff in his body form when situations started becoming uncomfortable, he was already stiff, but stiffer than he normally got. Letting out a sigh, she walked up. "Toshiro?"

"Kurosaki-san?" His voice was strained. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine." Karin folded her arms across her chest, her foot tapping. "I can not though say the same for you."

"I…"

"Well, it's kind of obvious something is upsetting you." Karin took a deep breath. "You can tell me. I mean, if it isn't something you're not allowed to."

"I was simply…" Toshiro paused, looking at the ground. His foot scuffed the ground, indicating the normally confident captain somehow lost quite a bit of his confidence. He looked up, those bright teal eyes boring into hers. "Do you know where the planetarium is? Urahara said I could see the stars there, since it's not yet night time."

"The planetarium?" Karin's eyes drifted towards the relative direction. "Does looking at stars make you feel better?"

"That…" Toshiro's voice cracked.

Her violet eyes drifted back to the Shinigami, noticing his eyes drifted to the ground. "It must be pretty bad if you're having to come to the living world like this."

"I can't…" Toshiro glanced now to the side. "Just let me know where it is?"

"Just let you know?" Karin let out a laugh, her hand reaching out to grab his. She started by tugging at his arm, startling him. This meant one of his hands slipped free, allowing her to take his hand with her other. She then pulled him after her. "I'm going to show you where it is?"

Toshiro's voice strained again. "Kurosaki. You don't have to?"

"Don't have to?" Karin laughed again. "Toshiro, what kind of friend would I be if I left you alone? It's obvious something's upsetting you. I know you probably can't tell me what's going on, but I can at least keep you company. I'm also paying."

"Yes, but…"

"No buts." She tugged Toshiro along. The tension from his arm at first indicated reluctance, but he soon fell into step behind her, not arguing.

"Oh. Are you two working on a school project for elementary school?"

"Something like that." Karin piped up, hoping Toshiro would react. He hated people treating him like a child, meaning he would blow a gasket and correct the man.

He didn't.

Karin tugged him into the planetarium, becoming even more worried. She found herself having to push him into a seat in the dark room. Despite not seeing the look on his face, she knew something was definitely wrong. When she sat, she placed her hand on his gently. While he tensed, he made no movement and said nothing. Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a whisper. "Toshiro, I know this is none of my business, but you're obviously not okay."

"What made it so obvious?" His voice was soft, calm. The usual spunk she knew simply wasn't there.

"Let's start with the strain in your voice you get whenever something upsets you."

"You don't know me that well. I mean…" Toshiro quieted, obviously lost in his thoughts.

"Okay. How about the fact you didn't chew the guy out for calling you an elementary school student?"

"Oh. That." The melancholic tone was honestly depressing her, making her think she really needed to find a way to cheer him up. "At least he didn't say we were on a date, though truth be said…"

"What? You _wouldn't_ want to go on a date with me?" Karin smirked, hoping to get a reaction from him like she normally did when teasing him.

"What. No. I mean…" While she couldn't see his face, she did see him tense up. "I… shut up Hyorinmaru! This isn't funny! I can't…"

"Hyorinmaru? What's your zampaktuo have to do with this?"

"I…" In the darkness she watched him slide down, his facial features still invisible because of the lighting. "No matter what I say, you'll take it the wrong way. Females always do."

"Toshiro, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not a normal female."

"Nor are any of the females in the Shinigami Woman's society. Unless you count Hinamori."

Karin frowned, her fingers tightening around the armrests of her chair. "Toshiro, I am not following you."

"If I were to say yes, you'd say I was a pervert. Possibly rightly so. If I were to lie and say no…"

"Lie and say no?" Karin found her voice straining

"I…"

"Toshiro, do you have a crush on me?"

"Can I lie and let the implications be that you hate me for thinking you ugly when I really don't rather than you hating me for having a crush on you and thus instead making me a pervert in your eyes?"

"Toshiro…"

"I mean, it's not as if we could be together, even though your father is technically a former Shinigami and broke Soul Society's laws already in that regard. But why would you like me? I'm cold, cold as ice. Everyone knows that."

"Toshiro…" Karin took a deep breath, hoping he'd slow down and stop his rambling.

"I mean, _that's_ why I became a Shinigami. I have a cold personality, and thus a cold reiatsu which nearly killed my grandmother And oh, I so should not be telling you any of this."

"Then why…"

"I'm already in trouble, a lot of it. Plus, since your father's back and I messed up, my position as captain is likely out the window. Not that I ever cared about that, but it is my duty. But I owe it to you. Its what friends do, isn't it, being honest? I honestly…"

There was of course one way to get him to shut up. She didn't think about the repercussions of kissing him beyond the fact it would get him to shut up when she did it, or the fact it was likely a poor choice on her part.


End file.
